Before being elected into political office,Rusdy worked as a consultant. He was also chairman of the Pancasila Youth organization in Central Sulawesi. [1]
Palu
In 1997,Rusdy was elected into the city council for Palu,and then between 1999 and 2004 he chaired the city council. [2] He participated in Palu's 2005 mayoral elections,when he won in a landslide after securing 60.82% of votes in a three-candidate race. [3] He was reelected following the 2010 election,winning 32 percent of votes in a six-candidate race. [4]
As Palu's mayor,Rusdy was the second Indonesian government official (after Abdurrahman Wahid during his presidency in 1999 to 2001) to publicly apologize for the mass killings in 1965–66. [1] His initial apology stemmed from a human rights event in March 2012 where he stated that he was ordered to guard a house where Indonesian Communist Party members were detained,and then apologized to the victims. [5] Rusdy's family was affiliated with Masyumi,which during 1965 was actively conducting violence against the communists. [1] In October 2013,he issued a mayoral order which officially apologized to the victims and became a legal basis for the victims to reclaim their rights. [6] [7]
Rusdy initiated a plan,in conjunction with the central government,to establish a special economic zone in Palu,which would include investments in port and road facilities. [8] He also began a work program which employed some 5,000 poor residents of the city. [9] He resigned as mayor in August 2015 to participate in the gubernatorial elections for the province. [10]
He was a member of Golkar until late 2017,when he moved to the Nasdem Party,citing political reasons. [11] Rusdy was chairman of Golkar's Donggala Regency branch in 2017 before his move. [12]
